Punjab govt to provide free neo-natal healthcare services

He said no charges would henceforth be levied for neo-natal check-up and newborn care (for a period of 28 days from the date of delivery).

He said no registration fee, admission fee, visiting fee, ambulance charges, anaesthesia charges or fees for services under the categories of radiology, laboratory investigation, clinical pathology, microbiology, biochemistry and blood transfusion would be charged in case of newborn children from the birth to 28 days of age in Punjab government hospitals.

He said delivery-related services were already free in Punjab's hospitals.

A five-day-old girl died on Wednesday after the life support system was allegedly removed as her father failed to pay a paltry sum of Rs 200 for treatment in a government hospital in Jalandhar, prompting Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to order a high-level probe into the matter.

Meanwhile, the state government today suspended with immediate effect a nurse of Jalandhar civil hospital on the recommendation of the enquiry committee, director of health and family welfare department Karanjeet Singh, who headed the panel, said.